The Mali national football team, nicknamed Les Aigles (The Eagles), is the national team of Mali

Mali

Mali , officially the Republic of Mali , is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 km² with...

 and is controlled by the Fédération Malienne de Football

Fédération Malienne de Football

Fédération Malienne de Football is the Malian Soccer Federation founded in 1960. It joined the Confederation of African Football in 1962 and has been affiliated with FIFA since 1964. Its first general secretary was Garan Fabou Kouyate...

. They have never qualified for the World Cup

FIFA World Cup

The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...

 finals.

History

Mali reached the 1972 African Nations Cup final, but lost 3–2 to Congo. They failed to qualify for the finals again until 1994 when they reached the semi-finals, an achievement matched twice since.

They played their first World Cup qualifier in 2000. In March 2005, riots broke out in Bamako

Bamako

Bamako is the capital of Mali and its largest city with a population of 1.8 million . Currently, it is estimated to be the fastest growing city in Africa and sixth fastest in the world...

 after Mali lost a World Cup qualifier to Togo

Togo national football team

The Togo national football team, nicknamed Les Eperviers The Togo national football team, nicknamed Les Eperviers The Togo national football team, nicknamed Les Eperviers (The Sparrow Hawks, is controlled by the Fédération Togolaise de Football.They played at the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Their team bus...

, 2–1 on a last minute goal.

In the recent 2010 African Nations Cup, Mali made football headlines from coming back 4–0 with 15 minutes left to level 4–4 with Angola. It is considered to be one of the best comebacks in recent memory.

Mali Football Achievements

Amilcar Cabral Cup

Amilcar Cabral Cup

The Amílcar Cabral Cup is an international football tournament for Western African nations. The competition originally was scheduled on an annual basis, it has since been scheduled on a bi-annual basis.-Participant Nations:...

 :

• 3 Times Champion (1989, 1997, 2007)
• 4 Times Runners-up

World Cup record

• 1930
  1930 FIFA World Cup
  The 1930 FIFA World Cup was the inaugural FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in Uruguay from 13 July to 30 July 1930...
  
   to 1962
  1962 FIFA World Cup
  The 1962 FIFA World Cup, the seventh staging of the World Cup, was held in Chile from 30 May to 17 June. It was won by Brazil, who retained the championship by beating Czechoslovakia 3–1 in the final...
  
   – Did not enter
• 1966
  1966 FIFA World Cup
  The 1966 FIFA World Cup, the eighth staging of the World Cup, was held in England from 11 July to 30 July. England beat West Germany 4–2 in the final, winning the World Cup for the first time, so becoming the first host to win the tournament since Italy in 1934.-Host selection:England was chosen as...
  
   – Withdrew
• 1970
  1970 FIFA World Cup
  The 1970 FIFA World Cup, the ninth staging of the World Cup, was held in Mexico, from 31 May to 21 June. The 1970 tournament was the first World Cup hosted in North America, and the first held outside South America and Europe. In a match-up of two-time World Cup champions, the final was won by...
  
   to 1990
  1990 FIFA World Cup
  The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event twice. Teams representing 116 national football associations from all six populated...
  
   – Did not enter
• 1994
  1994 FIFA World Cup
  The 1994 FIFA World Cup, the 15th staging of the FIFA World Cup, was held in nine cities across the United States from June 17 to July 17, 1994. The United States was chosen as the host by FIFA on July 4, 1988...
  
   and 1998
  1998 FIFA World Cup
  The 1998 FIFA World Cup, the 16th FIFA World Cup, was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. France was chosen as host nation by FIFA on 2 July 1992. The tournament was won by France, who beat Brazil 3-0 in the final...
  
   – Withdrew
• 2002
  2002 FIFA World Cup
  The 2002 FIFA World Cup was the 17th staging of the FIFA World Cup, held in South Korea and Japan from 31 May to 30 June. It was also the first World Cup held in Asia, and the last in which the golden goal rule was implemented. Brazil won the tournament for a record fifth time, beating Germany 2–0...
  
   to 2010
  2010 FIFA World Cup
  The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010...
  
  – Did not qualify

Africa Cup of Nations record

• 1957 to 1963 – Did not enter
• 1965 to 1970 – Did not qualify
• 1972 – Runners-Up
• 1974 and 1976 – Did not qualify
• 1978 – Disqualified
• 1980 – Did not enter
• 1982 to 1986 – Did not qualify
• 1988 – Withdrew
• 1990 and 1992 – Did not qualify
• 1994 – Fourth place
• 1996 to 2000 – Did not qualify
• 2002 – Fourth place
• 2004 – Fourth place
• 2006 – Did not qualify
• 2008 – Round 1
• 2010 – Round 1

Current squad

The following players have been called up to participate in the friendly match against Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso national football team

The Burkina Faso national football team, nicknamed Les Etalons , is the national team of Burkina Faso and is controlled by the Fédération Burkinabé de Foot-Ball. They were known as the Upper Volta national football team until 1984, when Upper Volta became Burkina Faso...

 on 11 November 2011.

Caps and goals updated as October 8, 2011.

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Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up for Mali within the past 12 months.
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(suspended)

(withdrew due to injury)

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External links

• Tout sur le football Malien
• Mali at FIFA.com
• Mali Football
• Courtney, Barrie. Mali – List of International Matches at RSSSF.com (Last updated: 19 August 2010)